No leads in case of body found near I-270

Man was found more than a month ago

Montgomery County Police released these pictures of the cowboy boots (left) and belt buckle found on a dead man in Germantown. They are seeking the publicís help to identify him.

Investigators have no leads in the identity of a man who was found shot to death near Interstate 270 in Germantown more than a month ago, according to police.

The man was found around 4:10 a.m. on Feb. 5 at the edge of the eastbound Father Hurley Boulevard ramp that connects to southbound I-270, according to a statement from Montgomery County Police. Investigators believe the body had been on the roadside for about 15 minutes before it was reported, according to Lucille Baur, a police spokeswoman.

It is not known where the man died, but he was likely killed elsewhere and left on the side of the road, police said.

A preliminary autopsy revealed the man was killed by a gunshot wound, according to police. The man is described as Hispanic, in his late 30s or early 40s, 260 pounds, with short dark hair, according to police. He was found wearing a brown knit cap, a waist-length brown leather jacket, blue jeans with embroidered designs on the back pockets, ankle-high brown cowboy boots, a brown leather belt with a large buckle, three beaded necklaces and a silver-colored necklace with a gold-colored skeleton key charm, police said.

A small, blue, paper laundry tag was attached to the inside of the man's jeans with a plastic tag commonly used to affix price tags to new clothes, according to police. The tag appears to have been torn off a larger ticket and contains a handwritten number, "22460," and the name "Carlos Quintero," police said.

County police have made several pleas to the community in their efforts to identify the man but have not received any tips, according to the statement. Regular checks for missing persons in the National Crime Information Center database have proved unsuccessful, police said, as has a national alert sent to law enforcement agencies. Police also contacted law enforcement in states that serve as entry points to the United States, such as Florida, California and Texas, police said.

"This is very uncommon," Baur said. "Typically, once we release identifying features and provide a composite or picture, we get an identification, and that's what makes this so perplexing. He has to be missing from somewhere."